The Latest: Romania seizes eggs imported from Germany

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The Latest on an investigation of eggs tainted with an illegal pesticide in Europe (all times local):

7:35 p.m.

Romanian authorities say they have seized a ton of imported eggs suspected of being contaminated.

The Veterinary Health Authority said in a statement that authorities discovered 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds) of eggs before they had reached supermarket shelves. They had arrived in the western city of Timisoara from Germany.

It said the eggs, found Wednesday, were believed to be tainted with the pesticide Fipronil. Authorities will incinerate the eggs.

It was the first report of contaminated eggs in Romania, a European Union member.

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4:30 p.m.

Reports of possibly tainted eggs linked to the pesticide scandal in the Netherlands and Belgium are cropping up in several countries.

Luxembourg's government has said that it received eggs from a Belgian producer whose eggs were found to contain Fipronil. Some eggs were sent back, while others were used in minced meat and luncheon meat. The remaining minced meat has been destroyed.

In Denmark, 40 eggs from a farm affected by Fipronil have been found at a baker, Nikolai Kuhn Hove of the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration told Denmark's TV2 channel. The eggs were seized Wednesday and the state agency said it would continue to monitor the situation.

Dutch authorities arrested two men Thursday on suspicion of involvement in the illegal use of the pesticide Fipronil in poultry farms.

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3:30 p.m.

British food safety authorities say far more eggs possibly tainted with the pesticide Fipronil have been imported to the United Kingdom from elsewhere in Europe than previously thought. But they say the number is a tiny fraction of the eggs consumed each year in the country.

The Food Standards Agency says it's likely that the number of eggs that have come to the UK is closer to 700,000 than the 21,000 officials previously believed had been imported.

The agency has issued a list of recalled processed foods including sandwiches and salads in which the eggs were found, but added that many eggs were mixed with other eggs from unaffected farms, so any Fipronil residues would be diluted.

The agency says that 85 percent of eggs eaten in the United Kingdom are laid there and "we have no evidence that eggs laid in the UK are contaminated or that Fipronil has been used inappropriately in the UK."

Millions of eggs have been pulled from supermarket shelves across Europe but no illnesses have been reported.

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2:45 p.m.

Dutch investigators have detained two men suspected of being involved in the illegal use of pesticide at poultry farms that sparked a massive food safety scare in several countries.

Dutch prosecutors said in a statement Thursday that the two men detained during a series of raids are directors of a company that allegedly used Fipronil in egg farms.

Though no illnesses have been reported, prosecutors said there is evidence that public health has been threatened by "the delivery or application of the biocide Fipronil in poultry houses in the egg sector."

The raids in the Netherlands were carried out as part of a joint action with Belgian authorities.

Millions of eggs have been pulled from supermarket shelves in Germany as well as Belgium and the Netherlands.

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3 p.m.

Dutch and Belgian authorities are carrying out raids as part of a criminal investigation into the illegal use of pesticide at poultry farms.

Marieke van der Molen of the Dutch National Prosecutor's Office says investigators from the country's food safety watchdog are conducting the raids in the Netherlands. She did not provide details on which companies or individuals were targeted.

Van der Molen says the Dutch raids on Thursday are part of a joint action with Belgian authorities.

Dozens of producers in the two countries are being investigated for eggs containing Fipronil, which is potentially dangerous. However, no cases have been reported of people falling sick.

As a result of the scandal, millions of eggs have been pulled from supermarket shelves in Germany as well as Belgium and the Netherlands.

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